Control and accountability at a construction site affect efficiency, productivity, and ultimately costs and profitability. Security, access control, automated process management, centralized real time records and data, and accountability at construction sites are often lacking or lax.
In many instances, individuals may come and go from construction sites freely. Moreover, there often are no security mechanisms for protecting the construction sites after hours. Access to a given construction site is typically controlled by the presence of supervisors at the site. Unfortunately, such supervisors may find it difficult to monitor and control access of all of the individuals coming and leaving from the construction site, and any one supervisor is not present on the site twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. With a human supervisor, there is not a continuum of information or effective transfer without loss of data and information. Construction sites have multiple stakeholders who may be present at the same time or at different times, which further complicates control and accountability. Moreover, records of individuals and materials entering and leaving from the construction sites are not typically recorded on an ongoing basis and are seldom part of a record for all current and future stakeholders.
Control and confirmation of deliveries at construction sites is limited, requiring the mere signature or sign off of any individual on the construction site in order for the deliveries to be accepted, or in many cases, deliveries are made to unattended sites with delivery drivers' self-verification. Unattended deliveries are in jeopardy of theft. Deliveries may arrive unscheduled, out of sequence, and/or delayed to sites creating delays, and the records of deliveries may be limited, often consisting of paper receipts. The deliveries may be made regardless of weather conditions, resulting in some materials being subject to rain and other weather conditions that may affect the materials that are delivered. This can result in legacy issues for warranties and quality. At large sites, errors may occur with deliveries to the wrong location or wrong contractor as different trades may use common materials.
Construction sites are some of the most dangerous places to work. They are difficult to control, secure, and provide accountability and coordination between the multiple stakeholders over a complex and complicated process. Access to controlled areas of a construction site is difficult to set, maintain, and monitor. Despite regulations and best efforts, many of the workers may not be covered by Workers Compensation Insurance. Safety briefings, appropriate individual safety equipment, disclosure lists of dangerous or hazardous materials with corresponding emergency procedures are difficult to locate on most construction sites, if they even exist. Use of tools and equipment by unlicensed, untrained, or uncertified workers is common, and may result in serious accidents.
Construction workers are the lifeblood of a construction site. Accounting for their comings and goings, verifying their licensure, confirming their payroll, and even confirming their location on the construction site is difficult. Confirmation of real time progress to optimize and improve efficiency and scheduling requires a constant and coordinated supervisory presence.